Originally Posted by
wolfchild
I started daily bike commuting in 2007...It`s been my personal observation that the roads are more dangerous now than they were 15 years ago. It`s kind of strange because roads have improved, infrastructure has improved, we have some new bike routes which didn`t exist 15 years ago and yet it just feels more dangerous than ever before to ride in traffic. TBH I blame smart phones, social media and infotainment systems for it. Technology is driving people into insanity. Every single day I see drivers not having their lights on when driving in the dark, people can`t even remember to turn on their lights. Aggressive driving and road rage has also increased a lot in the last 15 or so years. It`s only going to get worse.
The only thing you left off your list was the volume of traffic has increased (at least here, dramatically - I won’t ride roads I used to ride regularly 15 years ago) hence the greater chance of the becoming a statistic. Regarding aggressive driving and road rage; it seems to me like there is more of a green light these days on that kind of behavior all through society. Just waiting for a cyclist to get shot.
Part of the “Where are the good….” Is that if one chooses to be prudent in their selection of places to ride, or can, there are less chances for issues. If you live in a big city, that’s another thing.
You probably remember my post this year about a van purposely coming across the line at me and another cyclist (which turned into a free-for-all on defending the van driver - and hence blaming me for being at the wrong place at the wrong time), but that was a once in 10 year occurrence. Yes there have been a couple of brush-bys but where I choose to ride, people by in large give cyclists room or wait to pass when the oncoming lane is clear.